Marc Edwards, Mona Hanna-Attisha

The Flint water crisis quickly morphed into a political scandal this year when it became clear that government officials had endangered the health of thousands of adults and children. Two scientists, Marc Edwards and Mona Hanna-Attisha, helped to hold the state accountable for its negligence in creating a health crisis; he uncovered the cause, and she, the effects.

In 2011, Governor Rick Snyder put the financially shaky Flint under the control of an emergency manager. As a way to save money, Snyder appointees then decided Flint would no longer get its water from Detroit but from the Flint River. Last year, Edwards, a professor of civil engineering at Virginia Tech, received a panicked phone call: A stay-at-home mother in Flint was complaining that her water was orange and her son was covered with rashes. Over the summer, Edwards, who was known for having discovered dangerous lead levels in Washington, D.C.’s water in the 2000s, went with a team of researchers to Flint to conduct tests. The Flint River water, they found, was 19 times more corrosive than Detroit’s, and was stripping lead from inside the city’s pipes as it flowed. By the time Edwards’ results were announced, Hanna-Attisha, at the urging of a water expert friend, was already studying the blood-lead levels of hundreds of children in Flint. She found similarly alarming results: The percentage of children with high lead levels had doubled since the water source had changed—with profound consequences, including developmental and behavioral problems.

Q&A: Mona Hanna-Attisha

Favorite book this year:

“Between the World and Me,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Does America need to be “made great again”?

As engaged citizens, we should always strive to improve our country and work toward a more prosperous, fair and just society—for everyone.

Best Trump historical comparison:

Father Coughlin.

Something to miss about President Obama?

His reassuring, informed, deliberative approach to leading this country.

A word of advice to the next president:

You are here to lead all of America. A strong country is built on a strong foundation and a measure of a leader is how he/she treats the voiceless and most vulnerable.

Who was at fault? Edwards filed Freedom of Information Act requests for state and city documents, and discovered that state officials knew something was wrong with the water and had done nothing about it. Hanna-Attisha, meanwhile, warned parents of the risks of exposing their children to lead. As the public responded with outrage, the state was at first defiant, at one point accusing Hanna-Attisha of inciting “hysteria.” But slowly, government officials acknowledged the truth. By January, Snyder declared a state of emergency, and the National Guard was activated to deliver clean water to the city.

Nationwide, “Flint” has since become a tragic shorthand for the interconnected issues of government neglect and class and race—most of the affected Flint residents were working-class minorities. It’s a scandal that prompted congressional hearings, criminal charges and presidential debates, and led Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to call for Snyder’s resignation. He stayed put, but Edwards and Hanna-Attisha now serve on a state committee working to address Flint’s long-term water problems, and Hanna-Attisha is running an initiative to treat Flint children exposed to lead. If government exists to protect basic public safety, this duo offered a reminder of how dangerously it can fall short.